Evdochia Adoamnei Adoamnei¹, Jaime Mendiola Olivares¹, María Luisa Sánchez Ferrer², Mª TERESA PRIETO SANCHEZ², Ana Carmona Barnosi³, MIRIAM MOÑINO GARCÍA¹, Joaquín A. Palomar Rodríguez⁴, Alberto Manuel Torres Cantero¹

(1) METODOLOGÍA DE INVESTIGACIÓN EN CIENCIAS DE LA SALUD, IMIB, España
(2) INVESTIGACIÓN EN GINECOLOGÍA, REPRODUCCIÓN Y MEDICINA MATERNO-FETAL, IMIB, España
(3) HCUVA, 30100, España (Región de Murcia)
(4) Consejería de Salud, España (Región de Murcia)

Endometriosis is considered a disabling disease that may considerably compromise women’s social relationships, sexuality and mental health. Therefore, this condition can negatively affect their HRQoL. However, the effect of endometriosis on HRQoL has been understudied in Spanish women. The aim of this study was to assess whether there are differences in health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in adult women with endometriosis attending to a tertiary hospital compared to unaffected controls.

A case-control study of 97 women with endometriosis and 153 controls recruited in a tertiary care hospital and carried out between September 2014 and May 2015 in Murcia Region (Southern Spain). Controls were women without endometriosis attending the gynecological outpatient clinic for routine exams. Cases were attending the Endometriosis Unit of the “Virgen de la Arrixaca” University Clinical Hospital. All women completed health questionnaires including the Short Form-12v2 (SF-12v2), a commonly used survey of HRQoL, and followed physical and gynecological exams. The SF-12v2 generates eight scales: general health; physical functioning; role physical; role emotional; bodily pain; mental health; vitality and social functioning, as well as two summary measures: Physical and Mental Component Summary (PCS and MCS, respectively). Bivariate analysis, analysis of covariance and multiple logistic regression were used to evaluate differences in scales and component summary scores between cases and controls.

Women with endometriosis had significantly worse PCS compared to controls [mean (SD): 47.7 (9.7) vs. 56.1 (5.9); p-value < 0.001], as well as lower scores on seven out of the eight scales (p-values < 0.01). No significant differences were observed for the MCS between women with or without endometriosis.

Women with endometriosis reported poorer HRQoL. If confirmed, these results may have implications for clinical practice and potential interventions in women with endometriosis attending tertiary care. However, further research is needed to confirm these findings and extend these results to the general population.